The Final Post

Throughout the semester in Media 5 and ‘The Scene In Cinema’ I have undergone a very personal and artistic process of self-discovery. To avoid sounding pretentious, allow me to elaborate. What I mean, is that I had to take control of the course on my own, guiding myself to set tasks for myself, complete them, and reflect upon them critically. Not only that, but I also had to go beyond the basic structures of making film, editing it, reflecting, and so on. I had to create something new, and unique unto my own interest and inspiration as an auteur.

The projects that I undertook as a part of my self discovery and education was the creation of a ‘Universal Shotlist’, a reflection upon my own producing process of film called ‘The Stokeward Methodology’, a sketch shoot of a film called ‘The Loveable Moron’, and finally an insight into the spontaneous creational technique of imagination known as ‘The From God Method’.

I found the creation of my own tasks to be a daunting proposition, as I was so used to being spoon-fed assignments and information in order to complete a course. However, somewhere along the way, this wasn’t a course anymore, it was an evolution of who I was as a filmmaker. I found that being kicked out of the nest, so to speak, I had to constantly reflect upon my own self and think about what mattered to me as a filmmaker, and what I had to say. What was something that I could offer that was different? I used my weekly reflections as a way to critically explore my own thoughts, and analyse what I could improve on, or what I could build on. Through this process, I identified that I could begin the process of writing my own methodology out in a manual style form, so that others could examine and possibly identify or learn from the way I make film.

The ‘Stokeward Methodology’ kicked off yet a series of self awareness and criticism, allowing me to build on my own practice. I did so by engaging in the creation of a film, as well as simultaneously writing my methodology, as a real time step by step process of how I would go about creating this film. By doing this, I was intensely engaging in the process of scene production in a way that could both be practical and theoretical.

Through creating the pre-production work for the film, known as ‘The Loveable Moron’, I decided that it would be not as beneficial to shoot the scene, but to take a part of the pre-production phase, and build on it, do something new with it. I took the shotlist that I had written up, as it was in a traditional format that is used universally across the film industry, and decided to include some extra modifications to it. I wanted to correlate the director’s insight and higher thinking, along with the technical details and specifications, to create a universally used shotlist that can be more efficient and useful on set. By adding in the section of ‘Purpose’ for the film, I was able to demonstrate the director’s intensions when capturing a particular shot, to the DOP and videographers. This was then put into practice in ‘The Loveable Moron’.

‘The Loveable Moron’ then became a reality, as I decided it would be interesting to test how the shotlist would work when filming a scene with no prior knowledge of the script, the background synopsis, or any idea of the shots, and what they would be. Once I had filmed the dogma version of the sketch shoot, I analysed the DOP’s work as both a cameramen and a director in the scene, based on only 20 minutes of reading both the script and the shotlist. The film is now posted on my blog, along with all the other details that will be linked at the end of this post.

I found that the efficiency that my shotlist had created was excellent! We shot the scene in less than an hour, allowing for a smoother movement on set, and a universal understanding between the three people on set (myself, a friend, and the DOP/Director). However, the DOP did have a problem with the shotlist, as some parts were not elaborate enough for his comprehension, or understanding. This was a really good criticism, as I was then able to understand that I should build on making it more coherent and concise.

Finally, I wanted to understand how I could come up with this film as a concept from my imagination. So I undertook the task of writing ‘The From God Method’. I analysed the psychological patterns that unfolded in my mind when following specific steps to create a film’s narrative and concept. Through this, I felt that I could engage in higher thinking, and become more aware of my own creative process. This was probably the best and most interesting part of my exploration, as I could truly delve into my mind, and understand a higher level of thinking that I was not aware of before.

The Sketch Shoot
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/angus-ward/2015/06/09/the-loveable-moron-sketch-shoot-google-drive/

The From God Method
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/angus-ward/2015/05/28/the-from-god-method-part-1/

The Universal Shotlist
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/angus-ward/2015/05/20/universal-shotlist-the-loveable-moron/

The Stokeward Methodology
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/angus-ward/2015/04/10/stokeward-methodology-post-1/